Quins pair eye Euro glory as U20s ace delivers a reminder
IT was a weekend where Welsh participation in the latter stages of either European competition was sparse, with the Ospreys the only club from this side of the bridge involved.
Unfortunately, Toby Booth’s side couldn’t overcome Gloucester at Kingsholm and must now turn their attention back to the United Rugby Championship, where they remain in contention for a playoff spot.
But there were a handful of Welsh players who figured for English clubs in the last eight of the Investec Champions Cup.
There was also a full round of Welsh Premiership rugby to contend with. Here are our winners and losers from an entertaining weekend of rugby.
WINNERS Dillon Lewis and Jarrod Evans
Both Wales internationals were second-half replacements during Harlequins’ sensational 42-41 Champions Cup quarterfinal victory over Bordeaux in France.
This game will go down as one of the very finest in the 28-year history of the Champions Cup as Harlequins beat the odds to set up a mouthwatering semi-final clash with French giants Toulouse.
While Harlequins’ attacking game has attracted all the attention, the difference between winning and losing was their set-piece dominance. Wales prop Lewis played his part in this, coming off the bench to continue applying pressure on the Bordeaux scrum, winning a penalty in the process.
The 57-times capped international has improved his scrummaging since linking up with his former Cardiff coach Danny Wilson in London.
Former Cardiff fly-half Evans was a late replacement for England star Marcus Smith and will likely see more game-time between now and the end of the season after recovering from a knee injury as he looks to force his way on to the plane for Wales’ summer tour of Australia.
Morgan Morse
The 19-year-old came off the bench during the Ospreys’ Challenge Cup quarter-final clash with Gloucester at Kingsholm and made a big impact.
The back-rower made serious headway with some explosive carries while he put in a big defensive shift.
The Ospreys fell short of a first European semi-final place, but Morse was a shining light. The former Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera pupil is expected to figure for
Wales in the World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa this summer, but don’t rule out Warren Gatland taking him to Australia with the senior squad instead.
Members of Gatland’s coaching team were in attendance on Friday night and could only have been mightily impressed with what they saw.
Max Llewellyn
The 25-year-old was only on the field for 47 minutes of Gloucester’s Challenge Cup quarterfinal victory over the Ospreys but played well during that time. Llewellyn is a powerful carrier who more often than not gets over the gain-line, while his distribution is very good.
The twice-capped Wales centre is a very intelligent player who makes good decisions both in attack and defence. Llewellyn didn’t figure much for Gloucester at the start of the season, but is enjoying a run of games and is playing well.
The former Cardiff midfielder was in direct competition with two other contenders for Wales’ summer squad in Owen Watkin and the in-form Keiran Williams. Llewellyn more than held his own.
Newport RFC
The Black and Ambers are enjoying a tremendous season and were mightily impressive at the weekend as they thrashed
Bridgend 89-26 at home.
Newport are top of the Premiership for a reason, nine points clear of Llandovery, and huge credit must go to head coach Tyron Morris.
LOSERS Ospreys discipline and set-piece
Under Toby Booth, the Ospreys have always prided themselves on having a strong set-piece. But this wasn’t the case at Kingsholm on Friday night.
For some reason the Ospreys’ line-out faltered, with hooker Sam Parry responsible for a couple of throws which weren’t straight early on.
The scrum was also an area where they uncharacteristically struggled as Gloucester got on top. The Ospreys conceded 14 penalties, which killed any chance they had of building momentum.
Dafydd Jenkins and Christ Tshiunza
The Wales internationals were part of an Exeter side who suffered a 64-26 thrashing at the hands of Top 14 champions Toulouse in the quarter-finals of the Investec Champions Cup.
Neither of the Welshmen played badly, but they were part of a collective pack who were blown apart by the French giants in a ruthless second-half performance.